Really love this place. Especially the skewers, they remind me of my hometown. However, last visit wasn't very pleasant. I went on Saturday night. The beef skewers we ordered had a bad spoiled smell despite they were covered with much seasoning. And they made my stomach hurts later on. My friend went last night and had signs of food poisoning as well. Please hold the quality standard for your food cuz I actually like the place and want to come back. It's not hard to serve unspoiled food. read more

Food was okay, too salty. Our main concern was that we ordered the shrimp, pork, and chive panfried dumplings and it had egg in it and my brother is allergic. It was not listed as a common allergy OR IN THE INGREDIENTS like peanuts or dairy and it should be!! He broke into hives and flared up from his allergy when we were on the way home. We won't come back. Manager and staff said they will have a meeting about it tomorrow but not sure if they said it just to make us feel better. Allergies are serious and it ranges more than just peanuts alone. read more

Went twice in the span of one week. Recommend the beef roll thing and the beef skewers. Spicy wonton was a favorite. Preferred the dan dan noodles over the others and the orange chicken was good too. read more

Disappointing. We wanted to like it but it doesn't compare to the other location. Food was ok and tasted fine (except for every single beef roll that was served dry and ice cold.) Be advised: just get it to-go or be ready to get treated like crap. The most disappointing and shameful thing was the service. To be specific: the front of house staff who worked on Friday, August 2nd between 9-10pm. They do not want to be there or want anyone else to be there. It is understood that Friday night is not a fun shift, but to treat an entire table (and every single subsequent guest who walked in) with blatant contempt and disdain for wanting to PAY (pay money!) to eat at 9:20? It is a perfect recipe for really really poor service. From slamming water on the table, dropping and clattering the dishes on the table, shoving and yanking menus, talking POORLY about guests when they think they can't be translated by other speakers (wow!), it was surprisingly bad. Almost like they were playing a prank. At least there wasn't discrimination, the staff were rude and contemptuous with everyone! It wasn't super good hearing staff tell all guests loudly at the door "we only have this menu. Do you want to leave? Do you want to leave?", driving them out at 10pm, when the place closes at midnight (real words said to potential customers). Isn't the point of a restaurant to have customers to come in? Why should anyone come back to a location that is clearly meant to be a more "elevated" full service experience, when there's no service to begin with (you order off an app and then staff bully you to hurry up and decide)? At least leave it as the self service concept and these issues could be avoided. The worst part was that all 3 beef rolls came out ice cold, but we were too afraid to send them back for fear of them being spat in. It was bad. They said, and I quote "next time, if you're going to eat here, leave a tip!" Why? For that kind of treatment, there simply won't be a next time. read more

I put in a pretty large order for pick up. When I picked it up, I specifically asked if everything was there. The worker said yes and handed me two bags. I left the restaurant and 20 min later, they called me to tell me they forgot to give me a bag. So I turn back to go get the rest of the food and the workers are standing around talking while I'm trying to get their attention. When I finally got their attention and ask for my food, the worker is looking at me like she has no idea what I'm talk about. So now my food has been sitting there for an extra 30+ minutes. Did they offer anything to compensate? No! Totally ruined our Father's Day lunch!!! read more

We've been here plenty of times. The golden noodle soup is the best thing here, rich and savory and spicy..a unique blend of flavors. The golden soup hotpot comes with a lottt of extra toppings, worth it if you like all that extra. The green beans are solid, not amazing or a must-have. The shrimp wontons are terrible...would not order again, but the pork ones were decent. The crispy chicken was good in texture but not so much flavor. The orange chicken is pretty good, comparable to panda express. The flavor is good but accompanied by the texture...it's great. Beef and pork skewers are small but satisfy any cravings. The beef noodles...basic. overall, the Golden beef broth is the best read more

Just like the classic spot in SGV... Like 90% of the way there. The pickled veggie beef noodle is always crave worthy. Surprisingly great soup dumplings XLBs... Better than Din tai fung don't hate me read more

No need to wait. That is the best reason I love this place in Irvine. And there is bbq at night. love that.

Been waiting for this place to open over a year and finally is opened! It appears this establishment is a franchise since 2004. The place is bright, clean and inviting as expected being brand new. The staff speaks English and very nice and honest about their food items. When I asked if their soup dumplings are made in house or frozen, she hesitated a second but she told us is frozen hence the prices are lower than Ding Tai Fung. We ordered the beef roll with a live bug crawling inside it! They replaced it but still charged us for it! Three cold items very good but pricey. And Shanghai stir fry rice cakes with chicken which is on a bit sweet side. Overall the food and service are good. One of the staff members did come by to say sorry about the bug and asked if we wanted drinks for that. We don't want drinks, we just wanted the dish to be comp! Anyways, we will go back to try their mini hot pot dishes many people ordered there. read more

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The food here is quality. Garlic pork ribs, XLB pork, beef hot pot, eggplant, beef roll and green beans are all excellent. The service is fast in terms of the food coming out hit and fresh. You have to track waiters down to get attention. Ambiance is clean and modern. On our rotation of restaurants we visit frequently read more

While the food is above average, beware that certain menu items don't have all the ingredients listed. For example, we ordered this big chicken dish last Sunday and nowhere on the menu did it say that it had curry in it. read more

Great food and awesome spot for family dinner with kids! The pork dumplings are especially delicious!

Extremely salty - one of the worst Chinese food I've had. Unable to eat. I'm puzzled by the favorable ratings

Got some of the popular food. The spicy wonton, beef soup, and pastry. Was sorely disappointed. The pastry was old. It must have been heated and reheated. The inside was dry. Soups were ok. Price vs value was not worth it. read more

Everything I ordered was delicious! Recommending this place to all my friends and family.

The Golden Noodles were amazing and the Lychee Shrimp Balls and Lamb Skewers were tasty appetizers!

Great food and quick service! Have to try the golden soup beef hot pot and their skewers!

My family love this restaurant. It is very clean, good services and delicious food! Yummy! we will return again!

Been to the other locations in SGV. Newer place in Irvine. Good selection of items on menu went with spicy beef noodle soup, beef roll and lamb bbq skewers. Great taste and more than enough food for two. Beef roll is on larger size soup was plenty with the beef and noodles. They have a good selection of cold foods but didn't sample this time . Fast and friendly service ..recommend! read more

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We come to this location extremely often now that it has finally opened. The prices are reasonable, food is authentic, and the interior is much nicer compared to the location near UCI. I personally love their dumplings, string beans, and spicy hot pot. Prices are great and they are open pretty late for Irvine! read more

You're better off going somewhere else for lunch even if you have an hour break. Waited 30 minutes for a simple popcorn chicken and rice that never showed. While everyone else was getting their extravagant soups. The waiter who was working when I got there got his food before I did. Now I have to go grab something else for lunch. Thanks for nothing. These waiters they got look so lost. Please bring back the old staff or train these guys up some more. They are not good. read more

drove about one hour to eat here, yummy food, kids really enjoyed it. Next time wanna try the BBQ which they just provide at night time. 凉皮 is good！ read more

Food is authentic and delicious! I've gotten the hot pot each time, sauerkraut lamb is my favorite. It comes with a lot of different ingredients and a good level of spice. Definitely will be trying their other dishes, but hot soup has been perfect for overcast weather. Service is fine, communication can be a little rough. read more

Northern Cafe - Sauerkraut lamb hot pot - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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Great food and service! One of my favorite late night places to dine at. Ton of delicious selections.

Food was okay but the service was terrible, and not kid-friendly menu. Beware if you have peanut allergies. We ordered the skewers, and asked for no peanut because my son has allergy. I overlooked that the xiao long bao contains peanuts as I didn't expect there will be peanuts in xiao long bao, but the servers didn't say anything or warned us at least. My son had allergic reactions when eating the xlb, the server was very unapologetic and offered us a coke?! Like what the heck. The skewers were good, but came spicy although there was no indication or sign on the menu, so the kids couldn't really enjoy it. read more

Great food , great service, and delicious food. My favorite is the shrimp fried rice and the juicy pork dumplings!

Food is great and we were seated quickly. Love this location! We always like coming in and enjoy the ambiance

The food is amazing but the server with short hair lady was so rude! She is the only one available and she chose to ignore us and walk away to do nothing, that was really rude and bad service. I love the food there and l have been their a few time, and that the first time I got so bad experience. I even saw she ask a gentlemen to move table when the food are all serve, i feel shame for her!! read more

Food was great. Everything ordered was so tasty and authentic. I would recommend this restaurant for anyone who wants to rate good Chinese food that is not boring. read more

They don't sell dumplings after 9:30. Their menu is significantly limited after 9:30. Let's maybe broadcast that somewhere for people to know ahead of time. read more

Absolutely amazing food!!! Everything was so flavorful and unique. Must go to spot in Irvine!

Love their golden beef noodle soup, and the bbq skewers here are worth a try! Quick and relatively affordable choice

Delicious and fresh food ! This is a hit!! Perfectly cooked garlic book choy and eggplant.Hot and Sour soup was excellent. I'm going back tonight to try the fried noodle with vegetables and the veggie doubling. No meat for me but this restaurant is reasonably priced and the service is top notch. Welcome to Woodbridge read more

We liked the food at northern cafe, they are fast and good quality, highly recommend!

Absolutely amazing. I ordered the crispy chicken with the chicken fried rice and basically inhaled the whole plate. The servings are made for sharing & our food came really fast! I would definitely come here again. read more

First time at this location and really enjoyed the food. We arrived at 2pm today and were seated quickly. The waitstaff was pleasant and we ordered several dishes along with soup. The bowls for the soup had food particles in them so we received new clean bowls. My biggest gripe were the 2 bored children of a working staff member made to sit and entertain themselves. This is not the place or time for a staff member to leave their children unattended. The children were screaming and acting out the whole time without any supervision and this is unacceptable. I want to come back for the food because we really enjoyed it and would have rated this place better if not for the annoying atmosphere caused by the children. Please leave the unattended bored children at home. read more

Loved it here! The staff was super friendly and attentive. The food was delicious and had lots of flavor and aromatics. My favorite dishes were the soup dumplings (so soupy and satisfying) and the orange chicken (crispy and not too sweet)! Super open and clean dining area. Highly recommend visiting here! read more

Northern Cafe - Chinese Near Me - Irvine, California

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I like the huge selection they have. For Irvine, their price is very reasonable and portion is not bad.

Good food for a good price! Make sure to get a hotpot for you and your friend to share!

The food is always delicious. The service is good and the food comes out quickly after ordering.